Statehouse Report

Governor

• Governor of South Carolina is Henry McMaster (R – Richland) since January 24, 2017. His current term ends on January 13, 2027.
• FY26 Executive Budget Book – FINAL WEB VERSION.pdf

General Assembly

The South Carolina Legislature is divided into two parts called bodies (The House of Representatives and the Senate) and combined the bodies form the General Assembly.

House of Representatives

• Speaker of the House is Murrell Smith (R – Sumter) since May 12, 2022 
• Speaker Pro Tempore – Tommy Pope (R – York)
• Majority Leader is Davy Hiott (R–Pickens)
• Minority Leader is Todd Rutherford (D– Richland)
• 124 seats
• 2 year terms (next election Tuesday, November 3, 2026)
• Currently there are Republicans (88); Democrats (35); (1 vacancy District 113 – March 25, 2025)
• Qualifications: qualified to vote in state elections; 21 years of age; a resident of the district in which he/she seeks to represent; has not been convicted of or pled guilty to a felony or voter fraud or bribery unless 15 years has elapsed since time was served.

South Carolina Senate 

• One major rule change passed. The Senate President and Majority Leader now can sponsor a resolution to remove a chairman from a committee that will go before the Rules Committee and the entire Senate. 
• President of the Senate is Thomas Alexander (R – Oconee) since December 6, 2021 
• Majority Leader is Shane Massey (R – Edgefield)
• Minority Leader is Brad Hutto (D – Orangeburg) 
• 46 senators 
• 4 year terms (next election November 7, 2028)
• Currently there are – Republicans (34); Democrats (12)   NOTE: 13 new members (9 Republicans/4 Democrats) 
• Qualifications: qualified to vote in state elections; 25 years of age; a resident of the district in which he/she seeks to represent; has not been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a felony or voter fraud or bribery unless 15 years has elapsed since time was served.

126th Session of the South Carolina General Assembly – 1st Regular Session (2025)

• Members of the bodies convene on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 (second Tuesday in January)
• This is the first year of a two-year session
• Legislation not enacted during the 2025 session will hold its place in the legislative process and carry over to the 2026 session 
• The crossover deadline is April 10^th (rule 5.12) for legislation to pass from one chamber to the other; after this date a 2/3 vote of the receiving chamber is required to consider a bill 
• Statutory Sine Die date – Thursday, May 8, 2025 (second Thursday in May)  unless an extension is agreed to by a two-thirds vote of both bodies. Normally, the House and Senate meet in statewide session on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and for local matters on Friday. The Governor may call the General Assembly into a special session if necessary, beyond the regular session.

SCFOP House Legislation

Bill #	Sponsor(s)	Position	Description	Status
H.3016	Rep. Rutherford	Monitor	Interrogation of Child Who Violated Criminal Law or Ordinance	Referred to Judiciary
H.3034	Reps. Collins and Wooten	Priority	Police Animals – Fargo, Hyco, Rico, Coba, Wick and Mikka’s Law	Referred to Judiciary
H.3052	Reps. Pope and Wooten	Support	Enhanced Penalties for Assault on Law Enforcement Officer	Referred to Judiciary
H.3053	Reps. Pope et. al.	Monitor	Violent Crimes, Discharging Firearms into Dwellings – Amends Section 16-1-60 Relating to Offenses of Discharging Firearms into Dwellings	Referred to Judiciary
H.3055	Reps Wooten et. al	Monitor	Harassment and Stalking – Amends Section 16-3-1700 Related to Establishing Patterns Regarding Harassment, Stalking and Other Penalties	Referred to Judiciary
H.3068	Rep. Rutherford	Monitor	Restricts Forfeiture Procedures	Referred to Judiciary
H.3093	Rep. Moss	Support	Enhanced Penalties for Assaulting a First Responder or Healthcare Worker	Referred to Judiciary
H.3124	Reps. Pope et. al.	–	Creates Penalties for Intentional or Unintentional Exposure to Fentanyl of First Responders	Referred to Judiciary
H.3126	Rep. Pope	Monitor	Creation of the South Carolina Department of Law Enforcement and Public Safety	Referred to Judiciary
H.3127	Rep. Robbins, Wooten and Lawson	Support	Enhancing penalties for Failure to Stop	Referred to Judiciary
H.3131	Rep. Rutherford	Monitor	Disallows Law Enforcement from Purchasing Cell Site Simulator	Referred to Judiciary
H.3133	Rep. Rutherford	Monitor	Disallows Law Enforcement from Stopping Vehicles that don’t have License Plate Illumination	Referred to Education and Public Works
H.3134	Rep. Rutherford	Monitor	Disallows Law Enforcement from Purchasing Cell Site Simulator	Referred to Judiciary
H.3139	Rep. Rutherford	Monitor	Certification of Law Enforcement Officers	Referred to Judiciary
H.3155	Rep. Rutherford	Monitor	Automatic License Plate Readers – Adds 23-1-235 to Provide Only Certain Entities May Use LPRs; Provides Where LPRs Can Be Installed; Provides how Information Obtained May be Used	Referred to Judiciary
H.3159	Rep. Yow	Support	Allows Retired Officer to Carry a Concealed Weapon	Referred to Judiciary
H.3170	Rep. Beach	Monitor	Unlawful to Drive Vehicles with Drivers’ Licenses Not Recognized.	Referred to Education and Public Works
H.3176	Rep. Davis	Support	Enhanced Penalties for Failure to Stop and Wilfully Leading to a High Speed Chase	Referred to Judiciary
H.3258	Reps. Pope et. al.	Monitor	Requires Department of Education to Install Mobile Panic Alert Systems in All Public Schools	Referred to Education and Public Works
H.3259	Reps. Pope and Gilliam	Support	First Responder Automobile Insurance Premiums	Referred to Labor, Commerce and Industry
H.3261	Reps. Pope and Gilliam	Support	Workers’ Comp to Include Coverage for PTSD for First Responders	Referred to Labor, Commerce and Industry
H.3276	Reps. Pope et. al.	Monitor	South Carolina Hands Free Act	Referred to Judiciary
H.3281	Reps. McCravy et. al.	Support	Fallen First Responders Advocate Position	Referred to Judiciary
H.3283	Rep. Long	–	CWP on College Campuses – Amends 16-23-420 to Delete Restrictions Place on Holders of CWPs on Carrying Firearms on College Campuses	Referred to Judiciary
H.3285	Rep. Landing	Monitor	Education of Law Enforcement Officers or EMS to Include Training Course in Autism	Referred to Judiciary
H.3288	Rep. J.L. Johnson	Monitor	Allows Persons who are Subjects of Body Camera Video Data to Receive Footage by Simple Request.	Referred to Judiciary
H.3289	Rep. J.L. Johnson	Monitor	Include 911 Operators as “First Responders”	Referred to Ways and Means
H.3392	Rep. Moss	Support	Enhanced Penalties for Assaulting a Healthcare Worker or Emergency Response Employee	Referred to Judiciary
H.3295	Rep. Hardy	Support	Release of Vehicle Location Information to Law Enforcement Agency in Emergency Situations.	Referred to Judiciary
H.3315	Rep. Collins	Support	Authorize Correctional Officers to Serve Warrants without Magistrate Endorsing the Warrant.	Referred to Judiciary
H.3363	Rep. B. Newton, et.al.	Support	Catawba Nation to Become An Employer Under PEBA.	Referred To Ways and Means
H.3410	Rep. Hardee	Support	Property (Vehicle) Tax Exemption for Former First Responders	Referred To Ways and Means
H.3416	Rep. Kilmartin	Support	Retirement income Tax Deduction for First Responders	Referred To Ways and Means
H.3421	Rep. Long	Monitor	Retirement Investment Commission Cannot Invest Funds with China	Referred To Ways and Means
H.3434	Rep. Oremus	No Stance	Earnings Limitation Elimination for School Bus Drivers	Referred To Ways and Means
H.3437	Reps. Pope et. al.	Priority	Return to Work (Critical Need) for Law Enforcement	Referred To Ways and Means
H.3460	Rep. Wooten	Support	Disclosure of Electronic Communication to Law Enforcement, Solicitors and Attorney General	Referred to Judiciary
H.3461	Rep Lawson	Support	Excludes First Responder Wages from SC Gross Income	Referred To Ways and Means
H.3500	Rep. Rutherford	No Stance	Income Tax Deductions	Referred To Ways and Means
H.3522	Reps. Caskey et. al.	Priority	Defines Strangulation	Referred to Judiciary
H.3535	Reps. Wooten et. al.	Priority	Helping Alleviate Lawful Obstruction (HALO) Act	Referred to Judiciary
H.3536	Rep. Rep. Taylor	No Stance	South Carolina Hands Free Act	Referred to Judiciary
H.3542	Rep. Williams	Priority	Lifting the 10,000 limitation in both the PORS and SCRS if an individual retires before January 2, 2026	Referred To Ways and Means
H.3551	Rep. B. Newton and Gilliam	No Stance	Income Tax Exemption for Managers and Clerks of Elections	Referred To Ways and Means
H.3650	Reps. G.M. Smith et. al.	Monitor	Discharging Firearms into Dwellings and other Structures – amends 16-1-60 Relating to Violent crime Offense to Include the Offense of Discharging Firearms at or into a Dwelling, House, other Building Structure, Vehicle, Aircraft, Watercraft, etc.	Referred To Judiciary

SCFOP Senate Legislation

Bill #	Sponsor(s)	Position	Description	Status
S.8	Senator Jackson	Monitor	Training Council to Set Policies and Procedures for Vehicle Pursuits	Referred To Judiciary
S.64	Senator Hembree	Priority	Retirement Income Tax Deduction for First Responders	Referred To Finance
S.71	Senator Hembree	Support	Enhanced Penalties for Convictions for Assault and Battery Against a Law Enforcement Officer During the Performance of their Official Duties	Referred to Judiciary
S.74	Senator Hembree	Support	Disclosure of Electronic Communications and Other Records	Referred to Judiciary
S.90	Senator Young	Monitor	Hands Free Act	Referred To Transportation
S.102	Senators Gambrell and Massey	No Stance	Millage Rate Increase Limitations	Referred To Finance
S.107	Senator Rice	Monitor	Retirement Earnings Limitation – the Earnings Limitation is Equal to the Annual Retirement Earnings Test Exempt Lower Amount as Set by the Social Security Administration, the Amount of Which for 2024 was $22,320.	Referred To Finance
S.111	Senator Rice	Support	Enhanced Penalties for Vehicle Pursuit	Referred To Transportation
S.118	Senator Adams	Support	Constables Not Subject to Earnings Limitation	Referred To Finance
S.119	Senator Adams	Support	Lifts the 10,000 Earnings Limitation in Both the PORS and SCRS if an Individual is Separated from Employment for 90 Days	Referred To Finance
S.126	Senator Johnson	Monitor	Relating to Definitions, so as to Include Additional Information in the Definition of “Personal Contact Information” and to Define “Disclosed Records”	Referred to Judiciary
S.127	Senator Johnson	Support	Adds Catawba Nation to PORS	Referred To Finance
S.142	Senator Devine	Monitor	CJIS to Develop Use of Force Model Policy, Mandate Use of Force Training Through CJA, LE Agency That Does Not Implement Use of Force Policy Loses Qualified Immunity. A Department That Does Not Adopt an Approved Use of Force Policy is Not Subject to Qualified Immunity for Any Incident that Occurs Which Would be Addressed by the Model Use of Force Policy.	Referred To Judiciary
S.145	Senator Devine	Monitor	Constitutional Carry/Second Amendment Preservation Act Repeal	Referred To Judiciary
S.149	Senator Devine	Monitor	Juvenile Justice Reform Act	Referred To Judiciary
S.175	Senator Zell	Priority	Helping Alleviate Lawful Obstruction (HALO) Act	Referred To Judiciary